saturday morning ritual

saturday morning ritual. 

breakfast + coffee. blogs + pinterest. 

then blogging + more coffee.

it's a misty, grey morning here and I'm recovering from late night chicken wings and Spartan victory. my bracket was completely destroyed yesterday, but totally worth it to watch both Duke and Michigan lose, and South Florida win. it's certainly an interesting tournament this year. planning to head into the city this afternoon to perhaps watch a few games and get a little Irish. [and by "the city" I of course mean New York City. sorry, I'll probably do that for the rest of my life.]

stalling...

here we are, another saturday morning. rainy. french press + huevos rancheros. one kitten perched on the bookshelf, peering down on me as I type. another in my lap.

I'm stalling. today I told myself would finally be the day I purge my closet of all those things I never wear but for some reason still keep. I did some work a few months ago, but really that didn't do enough. and of course I've been buying a lot of new things. my sense of self-entitlement seems to manifest itself in wardrobe additions. in fact I was writing a post about that, but decided before I let myself finish it I really should clean the old things out.

 the other thing in competition with productivity today will be the Hunger Games. not the actual Hunger Games, but the book series. I started reading it this week and am 2/3 through the second book. I've been restraining myself. otherwise I would be done by now. the writing is obviously "young adult" reading level, which makes it go all the faster. at least she isn't one of those cruel / genius writers who ends their chapters in the middle of a conversation or event so you HAVE to start the next one. so I've been able to stop myself and not read through the nights.

ok. time to suck it up and get to work. Beau has climbed off my lap and my coffee's gone cold. see you tomorrow, internet.

saturday morning, the 2nd

holiday weekends are great. it means this morning is not really sunday morning, but saturday morning the 2nd. it's like getting a do-over. except -bonus- all those groceries I bought yesterday are still in the fridge.

I've been thinking a lot about do-overs, second chances, and clean starts as of late.

more and more often I sit down at my macbook with good intentions to write freely, but I get stuck. so I go paint my nails, or waste some time on pinterest. and I come back and still can't find the right way to say what I want to say without saying what I can't.

someday, soon, I'm going to be starting over. I hate that I can't say more than that. I hate that I can't shout it from the rooftops and throw an impromptu dance party. I wish I could find something else to write besides cryptic half-messages that would drive me insane if I was the one reading them. 

but I can't think about anything else. 

I suppose I cant at least tell you this much: in conjunction with this new adventure of mine, I will be starting a new blog. a place where I can write freely, no decoder rings necessary.

until then, please bear with me as I figure it all out.

spring cleaning

time for a little early spring cleaning. time for some triage with my blogroll, my closet, my baking cabinet, my bookshelf, and my facebook "friends" list. 

I'm getting rid of anything in my life that is not useful, beautiful, meaningful, or makes me happy.  because it feels good to get rid of the clutter, physical and emotional. 

the other day, inspired by Pinterest, I went through my makeup collection. I have a fairly simple routine to get ready, so a lot of the stuff I never use. some of it was probably expired, and to be honest, who really needs 3 mascaras? so I dumped it and then took what was left and organized it.

so. much. better.

plus, the coffee beans make my bathroom smell awesome.

Happy Holidays

from my cup to yours... cheers!

#3: mugs with love

I realized that posting a full DIY on these mugs would spoil the surprise for those receiving them as gifts next week... so here's proof for my 12 by 2012, and details to follow in the new year!

friday five [in photos]

1. Starbucks up and down the turnpike for 10 hour drives home.

 

2. assorted wedding decor and activities to photograph.

3. 21,000 runners and 1 million spectators in downtown Detroit.

4. completing my first race since the 1/2 marathon with sub 9 min miles.

5. pie.

fall ramblings

it would seem I have the blogging bug again. today is one of those days where I just feel driven to write. I can feel myself slowly slipping into a funk, and I'm trying to type my way out of it. word by word. so please excuse me if this gets disjointed and irrelevant. I'm just feeling the need to get some words out.

my coffee is sitting on the desk next to my laptop, smoking like a mug of campfire. hearty and bold french roast. Starbucks. because even though I try to save the 50 cents and buy generic it just doesn't pack the same kind of punch. at least I grind and brew it on my own. I drink coffee, black, that's it. so it doesn't make sense to drive somewhere and pay someone if I'm not getting a half-soy-no-foam-extra-caramel-whatever.

I'm bundled up in sweatpants and my trusty beat up MSU hoodie [which technically belongs to Husband, though I've been wearing it the past 5 years]. I wish I could wax sentimental about the changing weather and the scent of fall in the air but I'm just chilled from the air conditioning. it's 76 and muggy out this morning here in Jersey. I could smell it in New Hampshire, but that version of fall hasn't crept down this far yet.

tomorrow is the start of school. being married to a teacher ensures that event will always be meaningful in my life. summers will always be marked with chaos, but the start of school brings order and routine. the furious typing of keys as Husband lesson plans, a quiet snore from the sleeping kitten perched on the bookshelf, the gentle rumble of the washing machine, the crock pot lid rattling as a bit of slow-roasted deliciousness escapes. the sounds of fall are here, if not the scents.